With rivers running fast and frigid, public urged to use caution

Friday

May 19, 2017 at 7:16 PMMay 19, 2017 at 7:16 PM

Alex Breitler Record Staff Writer @Alexbreitler

That hefty snowpack in the Sierra Nevada is about to start melting more rapidly, setting the stage for spectacular scenery at Yosemite National Park but also raising concerns about public safety from the mountains to the Delta.

After getting off to a slow start over the course of this cool spring, the peak of the snowmelt could come in the next week, state officials project. Meanwhile, the warmest temperatures of the season so far are expected in the coming days, perhaps enticing more people into the water.

Think long and hard about it first.

“It’s cold, and it’s fast, and it can take you under in a second,” said Sgt. Jose Aleman, who leads the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office Boating Safety Unit, which will ramp up to summertime staffing this weekend across the county’s hundreds of miles of waterways.

The conditions that outdoor enthusiasts will find in the weeks to come will depend a great deal on where they go. The snowmelt-fed rivers will be most dramatic above the foothill dams, where flows into the reservoirs could double in volume.

Below the dams it’s a bit more complicated. Some rivers like the Mokelumne are still running almost as high as they were during the peak of the flood in February. The Calaveras River, on the other hand, is now a relative trickle.

The Stanislaus River, which didn’t flood at all earlier this year, is now much higher as snowmelt continues to fill New Melones Lake and officials release water downstream to maintain space behind the dam.

And in the Delta, while water levels have generally gone down, there may still be floating debris, and it is possible that strong currents over the past few months have formed new sandbars or other hidden dangers, Aleman said.

“There are some things out there that might be out of the ordinary for boaters,” he said.

It has already been a deadly year on at least one local river, the Calaveras. In January, an orchard worker fell into the river and drowned while riding his all-terrain vehicle to work near Valley Springs. The next month, a 3-year-old girl who had been hiking with her mother in the same community was swept away and also drowned.

High-water years typically see twice as many fatalities as drier years, the state Division of Boating and Waterways says.

It’s not just the amount of water that is of concern, but also the fact that it is snowmelt.

About the warmest water that could be found in this region on Friday, according to U.S. Geological Survey gauges, was a brisk 60 degrees at the Highway 4 bridge over the San Joaquin River. That temperature is more common in March; indeed, the San Joaquin hasn’t been this cold this time of year since 2011.

The Stanislaus in Ripon was a mere 52 degrees on Friday. And the Merced in Yosemite was in the mid-to-upper 40s.

All of those rivers are cold enough to trigger hypothermia.

“I think people should just stay off the river for now,” said Dave Ingrum, chief of the Clements Fire District near the Mokelumne. “It’s colder than normal because of the snowmelt, it’s running quicker than what you think it is, and it’s deceiving.”

Ingrum said firefighters there have performed two or three rescues already this year. On the Stanislaus, firefighters were reportedly called out eight times in one weekend.

Both rivers technically remain open to the public, though some boat launches and parks remain closed.

River closures are still in effect for a portion of the Delta, including the San Joaquin upstream of the Port of Stockton and portions of the south Delta.

At Yosemite, the Merced River is forecast to rise back above flood stage early next week, though well below levels seen during the big storms this winter. Earlier this week, park officials in a prepared statement warned the public to “exercise extreme caution.”

— Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or abreitler@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/breitlerblog and on Twitter @alexbreitler.

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